Marketers ready for a challenging year
Marketers are preparing themselves for a challenging 2010 that will continue to see changes in consumer behaviour.
Senior marketers are forecasting another difficult year as the economy slowly recovers from recession.
Coca-Cola GB marketing director Cathryn Sleight predicts this year “is going to remain a tough, uncertain time and market”.
Some marketers believe the slow recovery will lead to a shift in consumer behaviour in 2010, with the public increasingly looking for value and brands they can trust.
Simon Carter, marketing director for Fujitsu’s UK government division, says consumers will “flock back to big brands” that provide a level of “trust and certainty”.
“So long as brands don’t ignore the ‘value’ box, customers will not take the chance on an unknown supplier with what little cash they have to spare,” he says.
Despite the challenges, some are seeing an improvement in consumer confidence. Dan Cobley, marketing director for Google in Northern anaCentral Europe, says search behaviour suggests consumer confidence is returning. He says Google Barometer, a tool that uses search data to show consumer confidence, is showing an increase in searches for positive things such as luxury items and fewer for terms such as “bankruptcy”.
The World Cup in South Africa could also provide a fillip for the economy. Oscar Nieboer, global brand and marketing director for Betfair, says the tournament “could just prove to be the shot in the arm the media industry and economy is crying out for”.
